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Sunday, May 5, 2013

169 MyHeritage.com Record Matches in the 1900 US Census

I guess my main concern with all of the records being found on my family tree by MyHeritage.com's Record Match program is how to find enough time to look at and add all those records? I have still got almost 500 FindAGrave.com records to look at and process and now, with all of the US Census Records online and searchable by Record Match, there are hundreds more to review.

I have gotten some feedback from people who have signed up recently, say in the last month, since RootsTech 2013, that the feed from the Record Match program is slow in starting. But my wife, who only signed very recently, already has 360 matches in 10 different collections, including 21 matches in the 1900 U.S. Census. I am assured by MyHeritage.com that we are not receiving any kind of preferential treatment. I suggest adding to your profile and updating any information you have in the program and checking back regularly to see any progress.

One thing that did happen, was that my wife had not gotten any Record Matches for a while but discovered that she had not properly uploaded her file. When she looked, she and her parents were not connected to the rest of her family. When she made the connection, she started to receive matches.

My total matches at the time of writing this post is 2,679 records. I am finding photos, stories and all sorts of information from the matches. I suggest patience.

I have noticed that the number of new record matches I have from Ancestry.com is also going up lately. Perhaps they are feeling the competition? Well, I don't think it is competition at all because the records covered are similar in some respects but enough different to make them both a valuable source of records about family members.

9 comments:

I'm astounded by the number of record matches you are receiving. I signed up for My Heritage from RootsTech. I uploaded my tree and have since waited. Not one record match. I have contacted them several times. Their first explanation was that I hadn't waited long enough and to wait two weeks. So I waited...no matches. Their next explanation was that I must have re-published my tree which would delay the matches. Nope...I hadn't republished. Their third explanation was that I had two sites; one with my RootsTech tree and the other blank. I deleted the blank tree; still no matches. Their latest explanation is that some trees simply don't have matches. What is interesting is that I can perform a manual search using their "Research" tab for an individual and receive several matches. So far I have not been impressed with either their program/site or their customer service. I'm glad you are receiving such great results, but we aren't all so lucky.

I agree with you. I was contacted by MyHeritage, and because I had heard Mr. Tanner's presentation at RootsTech, I decided to give it a try. I have received 4 matches in a month, with 90,000 + people in the database. I have written to the support people twice, and have not had a reply except to receive a case number. I downloaded the UserGuide in hopes that I would learn something, but as of this time I have no answers.

James, I am astounded at the record matches I am receiving notifications on, too! And, nearly every single one of them has been correct. I have a backlog of about 140 I am going to work on today. I have LOVED having this program! And, if I hadn't heard your presentation at RootsTech, I don't know that I would have signed up. You did a nice job!

I agree with Family Attic. I've emailed customer support to see how long this should take, but no answer. I know I should have record matches, even if there are no tree matches. In addition, when I search for a person in my own tree---it doesn't even show up, although I've marked the tree to be available to everyone on or off the site. Now, I'm not sure how to get my money back, since they won't answer the customer support email. Sorry--you're just the messenger, but I've been disappointed in their service.

After dealing with several of these issues on MyHeritage and working with the program over the past few months, it is my impression that the program works but sometimes the data hasn't been entered in a format that can be recognized. My wife had this problem and once she re-uploaded the GEDCOM the issue went away and she started getting Record Matches.

The first time she loaded in the GEDCOM, apparently she did not export the entire file, so there were gaps in the data. She showed herself and parents and then the rest of the data was not connected. She had to reload a GEDCOM it solved the problem. I have no idea how this happened, but as soon as she got the file right, she started to get Record Matches. She also found she had more than one file and deleted one with no entries. It was not something you would have been able to figure out without working with the actual file on her computer.

I have had the same situation with my Premium Plus subscription to MyHeritage as the rest of you.

Everyone ( bloggers etc) had such glowing recommendations at and after Rootstech that many of us joined and paid a tidy sum.

My first support request email took 7 days for them to answer a question.

I went 2 weeks with no matches, finally with no assistance I have deleted my first ged which was uploaded using the Family Tree Builder software and uploaded a new file just to the website and I'm going to see how that goes. ( 3 days and nothing yet)

I am quite sure all of us are not uploading our gedcoms incorrectly and we all are getting poor to non existent support.

I noticed they are having a webinar maybe we all need to attend !

May 20, 2013 for a free webinar - An Introduction to Family Tree Builder 7.0 Join MyHeritage's chief genealogist, Daniel Horowitz, to explore the world’s most popular free genealogy software. Click here to register! https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/112284383

I received a notice from MyHeritage this morning that my file was backed up. I had uploaded it on 11 April 2013. Now I notice that the smart matches are coming. I had a thought: perhaps so many of us joined after the RootsTech conference, that their computers are having a hard time keeping up. And then we write to ask questions, and perhaps we have overwhelmed the support people also. I am hoping that the Record Matches will begin coming in next.